Zhou Shuren put down the teacup, “Be calm and steady in the face of difficulties and sarcasm, quickly analyze the pros and cons, weigh the cause and effect behind it, use your strength to muddy the waters, and stay clear of any involvement in the circle of right and wrong. Only then can you master it.”

A side note

This and most of the talk between this father and son so much reminded me of another pair; Polonius and Laertes from Hamlet. Here is the speech I am talking about:

Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Chang Lian, “.”

He felt that he might never be able to leave the army for the rest of his life!

Seeing that Chang Lian’s anger had subsided, Zhou Shuren smiled and said, “Are you still angry?”

Chang Lian shook his head, not feeling particularly angry at his father’s words. If he felt any anger, it was directed at himself for being unable to control his temper. “But Dad, I’m engaged to Dong Chuchu. The relatives of the Dong family don’t even consider our family worthy of attention; they’re just using their power to force us.”

Today completely shattered his illusions. All his pride was built on illusions; it was brutally crushed by reality.

Zhou Shuren said, “There is indeed nothing worthy of the Dong family’s attention in our family. This is a fact. The Dong family occupies half of the county. They need wealth and official status. Our family, from a small Zhoujia village, has only a few talents at their disposal, wealth but no wealth, and no one. Why should the Dong family take our family seriously?”

Chang Lian’s pupils tightened, because what his father said was the truth, and the corners of his mouth were bitter, “Then why do they want to talk to us? Why is our family getting married?”

Zhou Shuren didn’t explain this before because Chang Lian hadn’t been exposed to the outside world, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have grasped it deeply. But now, it’s the perfect time to explain, “Controlling things is that simple. Of course, if your father and you have potential, the Dong family also benefited. Today, the Dong family’s relatives bought flowers and bought prescriptions. Although it was a forced sale, it wasn’t a robbery. They have already considered the marriage relations between the two families. If you want others to respect you, you have to stand tall enough. You must remember, even marriage ties are not invulnerable.”

Chang Lian didn’t expect the reality to be so cruel. Every word of his father’s analysis was bloody. Only then did he realize how ridiculous his unwillingness was and how insignificant he was. He clenched his fists and adjusted his position. He wanted to be like his father. The same, self-knowledge, hibernation, enriching oneself, leaning down and saluting, “Dad, please teach me.”

He wanted to stand higher, he wanted to control his own destiny, he didn’t want to be slaughtered by others without even the ability to resist.

Zhou Shuren’s gaze was profound. Among his four sons, the eldest and the second son had a predetermined future. The fourth son wouldn’t deviate too far from the path either. Instead, it was Chang Lian who had the potential to go further. It wasn’t in vain that he came home early and kept a low profile. Master Dong had suggested that there was no rush to return home, but Zhou Shuren remembered the timing of Chang Lian’s gift delivery. He had come home early precisely to enhance the effect. What he wanted was for the Dong family’s relatives to think that the engagement might be in trouble.

In this regard, he didn’t even tell Zhulan. When it came to educating his sons, Zhulan never asked too many questions. However, from his attitude today, Zhulan must have guessed that he was plotting against Chang Lian. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so indifferent to asking earlier.

Chang Lian had been bending over and motionless. He could only hear the sound of his father pouring tea. There was no other sound, but he didn’t dare to move. He didn’t know how long he had been bent over. His calves were trembling. When he could no longer stand, his father said, “Get up!”

Zhou Shuren looked at Chang Lian’s head covered with sweat, “How does it feel to bend over?”

Chang Lian’s back hurt, his legs were numb, and his legs seemed to be bitten by insects. It was especially uncomfortable, “It doesn’t feel good.”

“You have to remember that you will have to bend down more often in the future. Today, you are just practicing in advance. Chang Lian, our family does not have the capital to let you stand upright at this time. Dad will teach you the first lesson today, learn to bend over. Practice bending over every day. I hope that no matter how long you bend down, you will be able to stand up without changing your expression.”

Chang Lian’s heart throbbed with excitement. He knew that his father was teaching him what he hadn’t taught his older brothers, which meant his father approved of him. His voice was excited, “Yes, I will practice hard.”

Zhou Shuren nodded, realizing that Chang Lian was still just a child. He became excited as soon as he received attention. “There’s food in the kitchen. Go eat!”

The depression in Chang Lian’s heart disappeared, and his stomach growled. His father was right. It was not worth getting angry at unnecessary people. He shouldn’t hurt his body for irrelevant people, “Yes.”

Chang Lian’s legs were no longer numb and he was walking briskly. He was almost at the door when he heard his father say: “Give the seller’s money to your saozi. The twenty taels are all your saozi’s credit. You should give it all to her. In the future, you must broaden your horizons. At the very least, don’t seek profit from your own family members. I don’t care how much money you scheme from outsiders, but none of our family members, not even nephews or nieces, are allowed. The Zhou family is one entity. Remember this. It’s my bottom line. If there’s another incident, I’ll break your legs.”

Chang Lian, “.”

He couldn’t get a share of the twenty taels of silver, and even his own money had all been invested. Hmm, this made him feel even worse than being insulted—his money.

He turned around and looked at his father’s cold eyes and shuddered. He did not doubt his father’s words, “There will be absolutely no next time.” “Just remember it. If you forget, Dad will be happy to help you improve your memory.”

Chang Lian said, “..”

No, he didn’t need it. Today, he understood his father more, and he was even more afraid of him now. He didn’t want his father to help him remember. His intuition told him that it was something he couldn’t bear. He was already an unnecessary existence to his parents, and his father would really go to extremes.

Zhulan was not asleep after all and had been eavesdropping in the bedroom. Zhou Shuren’s warning was indeed necessary. Chang Lian’s intention to take advantage of people should not be taken lightly. People’s bad nature likes to test boundaries. Once tested, it feels nothing, and they become bolder, so now he must be warned that this was the bottom line that couldn’t be touched.

Zhou Shuren was satisfied and stood up, “Okay, you go to eat.”

Chang Lian said, “Yeah.”

Zhou Shuren went back to the bedroom and said with a smile, “I knew you weren’t sleeping.”

Zhulan replied, “You’ve gone to great lengths to toughen up Chang Lian.”

“I can’t help it. Among the four sons, there is only such a malleable talent. I still want to wait for Chang Lian to graduate and take more care of Changzhi!”

He was really worried about his fourth son. Well, giving up on Changzhi was earlier than giving up on the boss. In order not to keep wiping his fourth son’s butt in the future, it was better to leave him to Chang Lian!

Zhulan, “.”

She was also quite helpless towards her fourth son, and expressed her support for Zhou Shuren’s behavior of passing the buck!

In the kitchen, Chang Lian was squatting at the door with his rice in hand. The sunlight on his head was blocked, and he realized that it was his second brother. “Second brother.”

Second Zhou went to the backyard to use the toilet, but he didn’t expect to get an unexpected reward. He gave three pats on his brother’s shoulder, “Work hard.”

Chang Lian swallowed the rice in his mouth and felt the support of his second brother, “Yes.”

After Chang Lian finished eating, he touched the money in his wallet. The only feeling in his heart was that he had no money. All the money was gone.

Li Shi took the purse in disbelief, “All for me?”

Chang Lian forced his eyes to look away from the purse. There were twenty taels of silver and two taels of gold. He only found out today that he likes gold, especially gold. “Yes.”

Li Shi was sad, but she didn’t expect that things would turn around. Twenty taels, she grabbed the money, raised her head, and asked cautiously, “Third brother, did you keep your share?”

Don’t say no. Keep!

Chang Lian’s heart was bleeding, “The recipe belongs to my saozi, so the money belongs to my saozi. I didn’t keep it. I’m very grateful to my saozi for helping me.”

Li Shi said, “Are you sure Chang Lian? “

These days, she had seen how much Chang Lian loved money. Every penny was precious. Now he actually said he didn’t want money. It was not hard to think that he was planning something else!

Li Shi clutched her purse tightly, tightly held onto her purse, saying, “We don’t have any money. Your eldest brother and I are broke.”

Zhulan came out and heard this. Mrs. Li guarded her purse cautiously as if she would fight tooth and nail if anyone mentioned money to her. Chang Lian’s face contorted in pain. It was a miracle that these two could collaborate!

(End of chapter)

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